Ken, Toshiro, and Sachiko during our morning walkies.
Sachiko talking to Ken as Toshiro listens
Sachiko and Toshiro as the leaves begin to fall after a mild summer and start of autumn
Sachiko and Toshiro as the leaves begin to fall after a mild summer and start of autumn
I was ecstatic to see 57.5°F on the outdoor thermometer this morning as we left before sunrise on our morning walkies.
As we walked along the woods of Sugarland Run, both Toshirō and Sachiko stopped abruptly and stared intently at the edge of the woods. It was so sudden and so intent that it scared me a little, so I stopped to see what they were staring at.
There was a majestic red fox standing underneath the trees just watching us. He was probably only four or five feet away from us, but showed no fear whatsoever of our two Shelties. He just stood, and then sat, and he watched us.
It made my heart leap in my chest. I’ve never seen so majestic or so sedate a red fox. I wish I could have stayed in that one moment forever.
Sachiko seemed completely smitten with the red fox. Toshiro largely ignored him, just watching.
Leaving for our walks before sunrise or just after sunset really is the best time to watch the wildlife around Loudoun County, Virginia. We’ve been able to see foxes, raccoons, skunks, deer, coyote, and bats during our daily walks.
I seriously need to clip a GoPro to my chest and just let it continuously record our walks, taking the best clips or pictures from each walk? No one would ever believe the red fox we saw today, but it brought tears to my eyes to see it.
Victoria, Sachiko, Kiyomi, Toshiro (last days together)
Valentines Day marked our last days with AKC Jade Mist Kiyomi (“Kiyomi”). She passed just a week or so later. For details on what happened, feel free to readTogether as Family (Valentine’s Day 2023) and Breaking Hearts. It still hurts me too much to repeat it or discuss it just yet.
AKC JADE MIST KIYOMI (“Kiyomi”) was born May 5th, 2009, to Carol Howell and Heidi Jacobsen of Jade Mist Shetland Sheepdogs in Davidsonville, MD. Kiyomi died on February 24th, 2023, at 9:15 AM, held and comforted by Victoria and Ken.
Vicky and I planned so much to do this Lent as both our personal goals and self-improvement. Both of us had our plans blown apart by the loss of Kiyomi just shy of her 14th birthday. Kiyomi would have celebrated her 14th birthday this May on May fifth. We always called her our “Cinco de Mayo” dog. She truly was like a daughter to us, and we miss her dearly.
In other news, I thought about letting my domain expire and giving up on both this server and website. I’m glad that I didn’t, but I was frustrated and depressed. I really had no interest in maintaining it or updating it. Between the blog and the wiki, it seems to do fairly well, with as many as 1200-1300 visitors each month. As our lives pick up again, carry on, and we have more news/events/tech to share, I’ll start posting more content again.
Working as a DevOps Engineer as my company grows and our team expands, staying active with my Amateur Radio license (K3KBF), reading, and gaming on the Steam Deck have taken most of my time and interest these last few months when not enjoying time together with family. I’ll have more news about Amateur Radio, the Steam Deck, SteamOS, the GPD Win 4 as a likely successor to the first-generation Valve Steam Deck, and other tech in coming posts.
This is basically just a “hey there, I’m still here, still alive” post. Hopefully, I’ll post something more substantive soon.
I’m still here… and, hopefully, you are too?
Here’s a quick “photo dump” of our recent events and news:
Ken and Kiyomi (last days together)
Our Home Office
Springtime with Toshiro and Sachiko
Springtime with Toshiro and Sachiko
Springtime with Toshiro and Sachiko
Sachiko and Toshiro in our Home Office
Ken and Kiyomi (last days together)
Victoria and Kiyomi (last days together)
Ken and Kiyomi (last days together)
Victoria, Sachiko, Kiyomi, Toshiro (last days together)
Victoria, Sachiko, Kiyomi, Toshiro (last days together)
Victoria, Sachiko, Kiyomi, Toshiro (last days together)
Victoria, Sachiko, Kiyomi, Toshiro (last days together)
Sachiko jumping, scaling, and climbing over puppy pens and gates.
Sachiko might be the first Sheltie that Vicky and I will need to buy a “Cat Tree” for. She climbs furniture, gates, and puppy pens now.
Several times, we’ve heard a “thunk” followed by scampering and barking as she climbs over her pen, scales the gate in our kitchen or living room, and she proudly runs around the house when we thought she was contained.
I’ve never seen Canine Agility for jumping, scaling, and climbing, but Sachiko might be a good candidate for the new AKC sport?
With me working and playing all the time from my new home office, we cleaned up the guest room and I moved all my old equipment into it turning it into an office for Victoria. She now has my old MacBook Pro and my old 37″ 21:9 4K monitor for her work and schooling. She completed her Masters in Nursing Education (MSNE) from Western Governors University (WGU) earlier this year, so now she’s pursuing a second Master’s Degree in Nursing Informatics.
Victoria and I are planning to have our family grow this Spring. Kiyomi and Toshiro (our two Shetland Sheepdogs) will be getting a baby sister from Carol Howell at Jade Mist Shetland Sheepdogs. Both Kiyomi and Toshiro are Jade Mist Shelties, so their baby sister will be related. We’re still deciding on what to name her and which Kanji to use to represent her name.
One of the names we’ve been considering is Ayumi. Ayumi (あゆみ, アユミ) is a feminine Japanese given name. It is rarely used as a surname.
Ayumi can be written using different kanji characters and can mean:
歩み, “course” “walking” “progress”
as a given name
歩, “progress”, “walking”, “a step”
歩美, “walking, beauty”
歩実, “walking, truth”
鮎己, “sweetfish, oneself”
亜由美, “Asia, reason, beauty”
安愉海, “peaceful, pleasure, sea”
明征魅, “bright, conquer, fascination”
充裕実, “provide, abundant, truth”
歩未, “walking”, “not yet”
The given name can also be written in hiragana and katakana.
